Scientists share top EU prize
Two Greek researchers participated in teams that were awarded the European Union’s prestigious Descartes Prize for scientific research last Friday in London. Professor Costas Soukoulis of the University of Crete was the project leader of a team that included academics from Turkey, the UK, Germany and the USA. The team was awarded a price «for developing a new class of artificial meta-materials… which have the ability to overturn many familiar properties of light.» In practical terms, the research could lead to DVDs with hugely expanded capacity, a more powerful microscope, the expansion of stealth technology on airplanes and ships and mini-telephony antennas with much lower emissions. Professor Ioannis Seiradakis, of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, was part of a team conducting research on pulsars, or faraway stars detected only through the radio waves they emit. Five teams, out of 85 entrants, received the top prize of 200,000 euros each.
